Two teenagers and a sex worker who planned to kill a rival drug dealer have been sentenced to life in prison.
Sacad Ali, 24, was lured to Sheffield’s Ponderosa Park by Rebecca Moore where he was ambushed and stabbed to death by Barney Griffin and Jack Douglas for touching “their place”.
Griffin was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Douglas was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Moore was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Sentencing the three, the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said: “You were all in this together. All three of you committed murder.”
Griffin, 18, of Dixon Drive, Sheffield, and Douglas, 17, of Brightholmlee Lane, Sheffield, both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possessing a bladderwrack.
Moore, of Springvale Walk, Sheffield, was convicted of murder after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.
Sacad Ali was brutally attacked and killed in Ponderosa Park in Sheffield on March 9 [Family handout]
During Moore’s trial the court heard that the youths, who were running a drug ring in Sheffield, joined drug user and sex dealer Moore in attacking Mr Ali in the early hours of 9 March.
Prosecutor Simon Kealey KC said Moore acted as a “bait” to lure him to the park, promising to buy crack cocaine from Ali and offering him “sex”.
Moore and Mr Ali met at a communal park where he was attacked by Griffin and Douglas, who stabbed him with “knives or knives”.
The jury was told Griffin and Douglas then fled the scene, with Moore leaving a short time later.
Griffin and Douglas turned themselves in to police on March 12, while Moore was arrested later that day. All three were charged the next day.
Moore protested his innocence throughout his trial, despite evidence that he “boasted” and “joked” about starting the attack.
Passing the sentence on Thursday, Judge Richardson said the boys may have been used to work for the gang.
In a statement read in court, Ali’s mother said her family would never recover from his death.
He said: “I lost a part of myself when my son was taken away by such violence and brutality.
“No one in the Sacad family will be able to hug her, hear her talk, or hear her sweet laugh.
“Our lives have become empty and desolate. Every day we are reminded of our loss.”
Speaking outside the court, Det Ch Insp Ben Wood said: “These two young men brutally murdered Sacad, Moore also murdered him by luring him into a meeting and luring him to a place where he was to be brutally attacked.
“Instead of admitting his guilt, Moore made Sacad’s loved ones relive the events of the day he died by making them endure a trial in court, and he was found guilty of murder.”
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